


Crisis Core Easter Challenge

by chameleon_soul



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M, Mentioning of others
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 07:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4616172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chameleon_soul/pseuds/chameleon_soul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be a day of fun.  Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal however didn't exactly follow Lazard's plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crisis Core Easter Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Crisis Core or its characters

** Crisis Core Easter challenge **

_During live people get faced with challenges. Challenges they can step up to or can turn their back to. But when they come to accept a given challenge, will they continue their chosen path to the end or will they be persuaded along the way to give up and to still turn their back on the challenge? And why would one accept a seemingly impossible challenge to begin with? What is it that drives these fine young men of SOLDIER to accept their given challenge?_

 

“I am so going to win this and score a date with one of the Firsts!” a person in the large group of SOLDIER’s gathered in front of a small provisory stage shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

His comrades and friends immediately all started to object and claim that if anyone was going to get his hands on one of the Firsts, it was going to be them.

 

Zack shook his head and looked over to the small elevated stage on which Lazard stood together with the three Firsts Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth. Genesis seemed thoroughly pleased with the whole Easter challenge idea. He was smiling and looking like the cat that had just gotten the canary. Sephiroth on Genesis’ left obviously didn’t share his friend’s enthusiasm as he was doing a damn good job of looking as if he was suffering from haemorrhoids. Angeal’s expression was neutral, the man seemingly not caring one way or the other.

 

Lazard stepped forward to the mike. “Thank you all for the large turnout,” he started. “In just a few minutes we will start with the game.” A round of enthusiastic yells followed and Lazard paused for a few moments, smiling pleased. “I will first explain the game to you,” and Lazard proceeded by holding up a large egg for all the men to see. “This is an example of the egg you will be searching for. Lt Hewley, Lt Rhapsodos and General Sephiroth have each signed their name to one egg and hidden it somewhere on the grounds. You will have one hour to look for the eggs. If you find an egg, please return here with the egg. As promised, you will receive as a reward a sparing match with the person who the egg belongs too and a date with said person.” Another round of cheering was heard.

 

Cloud looked nervously left and right of him. “They sure are popular,” he muttered.

 

Zack glanced at Cloud and laughed. “Of course they are. Most of us joined SOLDIER precisely cause they are in it.”

 

“I thought you joined cause you wanted to become a hero,” Cloud said surprised.

 

“And that is still my dream,” Zack answered affirmative, “but that dream came from watching Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis in action. I want to become just like them. Bring peace and protect the innocents. Become a hero of the people.”

 

Any other conversation between the two men got cut off as Lazard called Zack forward.

 

Confused Zack walked to the place Lazard was pointing at.

 

“To make things fair, Lt Hewley’s student will start ten minutes later than everyone else.”

 

“What?!” Zack protested. “That’s not fair at all!”

 

“Yes, it is. We wouldn’t want to give someone who knows one of the prizes very well an unfair advantage, now would we?” Lazard winked.

 

Zack grumbled a few curses but one look of Angeal made him swallow any further complaints in.

 

“All right, gentlemen,” Lazard raised his left arm, “your time starts …” Lazard’s left arm went down, “now.”

 

The SOLDIER’s all started to chat excitingly while dispersing themselves across the grounds. Soon only Zack and Cloud were left together with the Firsts and Lazard.

 

“You don’t have to wait with me,” Zack said to Cloud who had come over towards him. “You’d better start searching if you want any hopes of winning this. Didn’t you say you wanted to score a date with Sephiroth, Cloud?”

 

Cloud blushed and started fidgeting.

 

“What’s wrong, Spiky?”

 

Cloud looked up at Zack and then looked away as he confessed “I don’t have a single idea about where to look for his egg. I went over all the letters I have from his fan club a thousand times, but it still didn’t give me any clue about where he would have hidden his egg.”

 

“I see,” Zack’s nose scrunched up in thought. This morning he had seen Sephiroth coming out of the little shed behind the building they were standing at. He’d been acting really suspiciously – looking left and right all the time to make sure no one was around - and had nearly gotten a heart attack when he had spotted Zack. Could Sephiroth have hidden his egg in that shed?

 

“Why don’t you start by looking in the shed?” Zack suggested, motioning with his head to the door of the shed they saw a small part off.

 

Cloud looked to the shed and then back to Zack. “Are you sure?”

 

“You’ll never know unless you give it a shot, Spiky,” Zack laughed and clasped Cloud on the shoulder, sending him stumbling forward in the shed’s direction. From the corner of his eye he saw Sephiroth looking fowl at him and it made him grin and wave cheerily back at the General.

 

Sephiroth’s glare turned up a few notches and then he turned angrily away.

 

‘Jackpot.’

 

“Zack, the ten minutes are up. You can join the search,” Lazard informed.

 

‘Right,’ Zack’s left fisted hand hit the flat palm of his right one. ‘Don’t worry, Angeal. I’ll find your egg. I promise,’ he silently vowed as he regarded Angeal.

 

The older man felt Zack’s gaze on him and smiled back at him after which he motioned with his head for Zack to get going.

 

‘Right. No time to waste. Let’s do this.’

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Zack walked across the fields, deep in thought and not paying any attention to all of the other SOLDIER’s who were determined on turning every rock upside down to find one of the eggs.

 

‘Angeal likes gardening, cooking, photography and dogs. So did he stash the egg somewhere in his garden? No, that would be too obvious. Everyone knows about the garden. I’m sure it’s already packed with other people.’

 

Zack grimaced as he imagined the damage the other SOLDIER’s were probably doing to the garden Angeal took so much pride in and promptly promised himself he’d help Angeal tomorrow during his free hours to put the garden back in order.

 

‘But where did he hide the egg then? Somewhere he likes the scenery?’ Zack brought his left hand absent minded to his chin and pondered on all the different possibilities this left him with.

 

There was that hill Angeal loved to go to whenever he had some free time and where he adored laying in the grass while staring up at the sun. Could he have hidden it there? It was quite a hike but do-able in less than an hour.

 

His mind set-up, Zack turned around to head for the hill and came face to face with a rather large group of SOLDIER’s who were all staring at him. Not thinking anything of it, Zack passed them but paused a few minutes later again as he heard a large fall of footsteps behind him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw the same group of SOLDIER’s still behind him – and he could have sworn the group had gotten even larger - and they were all looking in the same direction as him meaning they all had also turned around as he had.

 

‘What the …?! Are they following me?’

 

Zack groaned after which he turned around and addressed the group. “Look, I have no idea either where Angeal’s egg is so you may as well stop following me.”

 

The SOLDIER’s mumbled something, staring intently at Zack but then finally dispersed.

 

Satisfied Zack headed back towards the hill only to pause again as he could hear people following him once again. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed his suspicion. All the men who had been following him before were back on his tail. Clearly they hadn’t believed a single word he had said and had tried to fool him.

 

‘How the hell am I supposed to be able to find Angeal’s egg like this?’

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Cloud exited the shed, cursing Zack and his entire lineage. There hadn’t been a single trace of an egg in there. Wait, that wasn’t true. There had been eggs in there. Spider eggs and damn but mother spiders could be scary. For a few instants Cloud had been convinced he would have needed to use his fire magic on them and hold a large barbecue as the spiders hadn’t been happy with him entering their territory and rummaging around. They had jumped on him and bitten him everywhere they could and one of the darn devils had even managed to sneak up his leg and gotten into his underwear and god, he so didn’t want to see the angry swelling bulbs his cock was now sporting thanks to some well aimed bites there. Yes, Zack was going to pay.

 

Glaring up at the sun - how dared the sun shine so brightly and lovingly upon his misfortune - and the singing birds in the trees a few yards away - how dare anyone be happy on this god damned day where not only his anatomy was traumatized but some other soldier would also end up whisking the date with Sephiroth away cause now he couldn’t search for the egg anymore as walking was becoming a bit too painful - Cloud hobbled towards the main building to go and try and find a doctor and hell he’d even take Hojo if he had to as long as the man would make the pain go away.

 

Unfortunately for Cloud the shortest course to the medical facilities brought him right passed the Firsts and Lazard. For a brief moment Cloud contemplated taking the long way and not subjecting himself in the state that he was to his hero and long time crush Sephiroth, but another rather painful twitch in his groin made him throw all his pride out of the window and miserable he approached the stage.

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Genesis was the first one who spotted Cloud’s approach.

 

“Isn’t that your puppy’s friend?” he asked, drawing Angeal’s attention towards Cloud.

 

“Yes. Cloud Strife if I remember correctly,” Angeal confirmed.

 

Both men silently regarded Cloud’s slow and hobbling approach for a few moments, before Genesis spoke up again. “Does he always walk that funny?”

 

“Not that I remember.”

 

When Cloud was close enough to hear them, Angeal yelled out to him: “Are you alright, son?”

 

Cloud stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes grew wide in horror. He had hoped to be able to slink by the stage unnoticed.

 

God, why couldn’t they have just ignored him? Why did Lt Hewley have to be so caring and concerned? He was just some low classed SOLDIER for crying out loud. No one special. No one you needed to pay attention to. Hell, no one ever had paid him any attention before - except for Zack - so why, why in God’s name did they have to start today?

 

Cloud’s eyes quickly flicked to Sephiroth but luckily the man had his back still turned towards him as he was talking with Lazard.

 

Thank God. It seemed like God above was still smiling down upon him. He could still do this. He just needed to brush off Lt Hewley’s concern for him quickly and make a hasty retreat - or at least as hastily as was possible in his condition.

 

Cloud lifted his right hand and tried to wave Angeal’s concern away. “Yes, sir. I’m fine, sir. Just peachy, sir. Excuse me, sir,” and he forced himself back in motion.

 

Angeal frowned and shared a look with Genesis who shrugged his shoulders in reply. “If the boy says he’s fine, he’s fine.”

 

Angeal threw Genesis a look that clearly stated that the man was a bigger idiot than he himself thought before he hurried off the stage and towards Cloud.

 

Hearing Angeal’s approach, Cloud redoubled his efforts and quickened his step. He knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun Angeal in the state that he was or that Angeal would get the hint that he was rather left alone and would let him hobble of in peace - if all the raving Zack had done about his mentor even only held a small grain of truth then Angeal would never let him get way till the man had gotten to the bottom of what was bothering him - but maybe he could put enough distance between himself and the stage so that at least he could be spared the embarrassment of the mighty General seeing him in this state.

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Zack slid down against the wooden wall of the barn. He was exhausted and tried to slow his quick breathing again to a normal pace.

 

The last fifteen minutes had been maddening and for the first time in his life he thanked Angeal for all those early morning runs the man forced him to take as it had proved quite useful today in shaking off his pursuers. Sadly some of his stalkers had also been in excellent shape and a quick look on his watch had revealed to him that he wouldn’t have enough time anymore to hike up to the hill and snatch away a date with Angeal.

 

Muttering a few curses, Zack let his head fall back against the wall behind him and for a few moments he closed his eyes and just enjoyed the peace around him. The date with Angeal was a lost cause now but he would take comfort in the fact that probably no other person in SOLDIER would have thought about going to look at the hill for Angeal’s egg. And this meant consequently that no one else would also be able to steal time with Angeal from him away. And it wasn’t like he wouldn’t see Angeal anymore either. Angeal was his mentor. They would still see each other every day for training.

 

Zack groaned and thumbed his head a few times against the wooden wall. Training so wasn’t a date! He wanted to get closer to Angeal. Get to know the man better. Have his hands on him and not just to correct a fighting stance. He wanted Angeal damn it and he wanted Angeal to want him too. He’d been convinced that the date would have been the perfect opportunity to let Angeal see him in a different light. Let Angeal see he was more than just a good SOLDIER with hopefully as a result that Angeal would have become more interested in the man behind the SOLDIER and then they could have taken it from there. But now that dream was a lost cause. He’d be doomed to stay Angeal’s student for ever without a single hope at anything more.

 

A sudden noise made him crack one eye open and he groaned again. As if his luck wasn’t rotten enough as it was.

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Cloud came to a halt as Angeal skidded to a halt in front of him.

 

Cloud inwardly cursed. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened to him and true to the rumours floating around Lt Hewley’s intelligence, the older man reached out, gently grabbed Cloud’s chin and angled Cloud’s head left and right to get a better look at the damage done to Cloud’s face after which he muttered “Spider bites.”

 

Angeal released Cloud’s chin and Cloud took a stumbling step backward as Angeal frowned. “What did they look like?”

 

“Look like?” Cloud repeated stupidly and uncomprehending. Why did Lt Hewley ask him that question? Surely the man knew how a spider looked like, no? “Euh … like a spider, sir.”

 

Angeal shook his head. “No, characteristics. Specifics like colour, shape, size.”

 

“Why?” Cloud asked in a small voice, dreading the answer of the First.

 

“We have to rule out poisonous spiders,” Angeal clarified.

 

“POISONOUS?!”

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Zack slowly backed to the right, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the threat to his left.

 

Of all the chocobo stables he could have chosen to hide out in, he just had to choose the stable of their demonic chocobo. Okay, so technically chocobos weren’t demonic, but this one had certainly taken a course on it ever since it had laid eggs and was hatching them. Even the stable personal didn’t go in a five mile radius of the crazy bird if they could avoid it. The only person who was allowed in the bird’s proximity – without this person risking serious injurious or an early grave - was Genesis. Apparently the chocobo shared Genesis’ passion for Loveless and couldn’t get enough of Genesis sprouting its lines to the bird.

 

A sudden thought struck Zack and he paused and leaned to his right, trying to check the nest of the chocobo. As expected Genesis egg was lying comfortable in the nest of the bird.

 

Zack shook his head. Of all the horrible places Genesis could have come up with to hide his egg. No wonder the man had looked so smug on the stage. He had been quite confident that no SOLDIER would be able to get to his egg, making him thus safe from having to date a low class SOLDIER.

 

Zack bit the inside of his cheek, debating whether to try and grab the egg and enjoy the reward of seeing Genesis’ smug expression slider of the First’s face or whether he should leave the egg alone.

 

As it was fate decided for him as the chocobo suddenly lunged for him and he was send backwards, sprawled out on his ass. ‘Like hell I’m going to risk my life for a date with a man who only is able to talk in lines of that stupid play! The egg can stay!’

 

Zack scrambled back to his feet when his eyes caught sight of something and he groaned. Of all the rotten luck!

 

As Angeal was rambling down a whole list of possible poisonous effects Cloud could be feeling, Cloud was making a list of torture methods he would use against Zack. His description of the spiders had made Lt Hewley frown as the man couldn’t remember ever having encountered such spiders before and so wasn’t certain whether they were dangerous or not.

 

“ … rash, nausea, vomiting, light headiness …” the list went on, but a few mentioned words caught Cloud’s attention.

 

‘Wait did he just say light headed? He was feeling light headed, wasn’t he? And a rash? Were those red spots on his arm there before? Oh, God he so was going to die. Killed by a measly spider. God, his friends back home would laugh their asses off as they learned how he’d been killed - not on the battlefield and with great honour, but in some simple wooden shed due to a spider bite. Maybe he should have listened to his mother after all and stayed home and become a farmer or something like that. Not that he would have been safe from spider bites there either but at least he wouldn’t die a lousy death then in front of his great hero, the almighty Sephiroth.  Not that the man even knew he existed. If he fell dead here and now, the long silver haired man probably would just raise an eyebrow and then call clean up to get them remove Cloud’s body from the lawn as the body was loitering the scenery.’

 

Cloud’s eyes shifted to Sephiroth’s back, sadness and longing present in them.

 

‘God, he was going to die without ever having spoken to his hero! Why was life so unfair?! All he ever wanted was the man to notice him. Was that too much to ask?!’

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Zack held an enormous amount of Gysahl Greens out towards the chocobo, hoping to tempt it to leave its nest in favour of snacking down on the green.

 

When he had gotten back to his feet, Zack’s eyes had fallen on the signature on the coloured egg and his eyes had nearly popped out of his sockets when it hadn’t been Genesis’ name staring back at him but Angeal’s. How the older man had managed to pull this off unharmed was short of a miracle – unless of course he had enlisted Genesis’ help to pull this stunt off and knowing how close those two were Zack was pretty confident the red leather clad man had helped out Angeal.

 

The chocobo however didn’t even bat its eyes at the Gysahl Greens in Zack’s hand and when Zack’s eyes slid over towards the feeding pen of the bird, he cursed as the feeding pen was filled to the brim with Gysahl Greens.

 

“Time for plan B.”

 

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Cloud groaned. Voices were floating towards him, first very soft and very far but gradually they became stronger and clearer so that he understood what was being said.

 

“Aren’t we supposed to suck the poison out of the bites?” a voice sounding like the one off Lt Rhapsodos commented.

 

“That’s for snakes, you idiot!” a grumpy voice replied. Definitely Lt Hewley’s voice. “How the hell did you ever manage to make it to First Class?”

 

“Why, I am so glad you finally ask met that, Angeal,” Cloud could swear he could hear Lt Rhapsodos purring. “By using my charms and good looks of course. What did you think?”

 

A groan was heard – probably Lt Hewley’s.

 

Straining himself, Cloud opened his eyes and blinked a few times against the bright sunlight. Above him were four shadowed forms hovering and as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, he could make out Lt Hewley, Lt Rhapsodos, General Sephiroth and Director Lazard’s face.

 

‘I must have died and gone to heaven.’

 

“Are you alright, son? You gave us quite a scare fainting like that,” Lt Hewley asked as soon as he was certain Cloud was back with them.

 

Cloud’s eyes flew wide open. ‘He’d fainted?! In front of the great Sephiroth?! Oh, kill him now. What would the silver haired God think of him now? That he was some sort of wimp?’ Cloud groaned in misery. ‘Where was the ground to open up and swallow you when you needed it?’

 

The groan emitted by the blond SOLDIER immediately brought the other four into action, all four believing the groan came from the boy being in pain.

 

“See?! He is in pain due to the poison. We need to get it out of his system and quick!” and Lt Rhapsodos grabbed a handful of Cloud’s shirt and started to try and drag it over the unwilling Third Class’ head.

 

“What the hell are you trying to do?!” Cloud protested, trying to swat Lt Rhapsodos’ hands off him.

 

“We need to get you naked,” Lt Rhapsodos explained, after which he redoubled his efforts to get the Third Class’ clothes off.

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Zack stared in horror at the pitch-fork the chocobo had just bitten the tips off.

 

‘What the …?! Since when were chocobos able to eat through steel?!’

 

Zack regarded the chocobo. Okay, so it wasn’t a normal yellow chocobo and he did know that depending on a chocobo’s colour it possessed certain skills like a blue one being able to cross water and a black one being able to travel over mountains, but had there always been a chocobo that was capable of eating through steel?

 

Oh man, why hadn’t he paid better attention in the chocobo class? They did give that class for a reason, now didn’t they? At least he would have been able to decipher what kind of chocobo this truly was then and would know its weak spots and he also wouldn’t have sacrificed the poor innocent pitch-fork.

 

Zack stared forlorn at the pitch-fork in his hands. How much did a pitch-fork cost again?

 

Zack groaned. Oh man, he was still paying off the damage he had caused in the lab when he had curiously pushed the button of that machine and it had gone kaboom. Not that it was his fault mind you. Who in their right mind put a sign ‘don’t touch’ on a machine? That was asking for trouble! Of course you’d want to touch the bloody thing then! No, that so wasn’t his fault, just as this ruined pitch-fork wasn’t his fault either. It was Angeal’s fault for having stashed his egg under an over-protective soon to be chocobo mother. Wait a second …

 

Zack grinned as a new plan formed inside of his head.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

In Cloud’s eyes burned a determined fire. He so wasn’t going to disrobe in front of these men.

 

Besides, wasn’t there a rule that stated that clothes didn’t come off till the second date?! Okay, so technically this wasn’t a date – he had just been trying to score a date with General Sephiroth – and technically Lt Rhapsodos only wanted to disrobe him to save his life – or so the man claimed cause Cloud really didn’t get how him being butt naked would save him from keeling over due to spider poison – but his long time hero was standing there too and he so wasn’t yet long enough in SOLDIER to have a well-toned body! He still needed time to built some muscles, damn it! Muscles like Zack so that his naked form would at least look appealing to the silver haired General instead of making the man take one look at him and then have him running away screaming his head off at having been subjected to a low Third Class SOLDIER’s naked chicken legs and arms or in the worst case scenario the man taking out his beloved Masamune and running it through his naked body as the man would deem him unworthy of belonging to SOLDIER.

 

He worked too damn hard to get here, damn it, and no Loveless sprouting idiot, even if he was a lieutenant and technically his superior, would get him kicked out and destroy his dream! He so would become First and grab General Sephiroth’s attention, making the man fall madly in love with him after which they would live happily ever after and have a house with a white picked fence and four children and a dog!

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Angeal, Sephiroth and Lazard stared down at the wrestling two.

 

“He has stamina, I’ll give you that,” Sephiroth commented.

 

“And is fearless. I’ve never seen a SOLDIER refusing to back down when Genesis has this mad gleam in his eyes,” Angeal made his own establishment.

 

“That’s all well, but shouldn’t we do something about the boy’s poisonous spider bites? Although I do not agree with Lt Rhapsodos method, he does have a point that we need to treat the boy.”

 

“It’s not proven that they are poisonous,” Sephiroth replied.

 

“The boy fainted!” Lazard yelled, pointing towards Cloud.

 

“It could be unrelated,” Sephiroth shrugged.

 

Lazard glared at Sephiroth and then turned his attention at Angeal, hoping to find there some voice of reason.

 

Angeal shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it won’t hurt to treat the boy. Just in case. I’d be a shame to let his potential go to waste.”

 

Sephiroth let out a long suffering sigh and then pulled out a green materia. He stalked towards the wrestling pair, grabbed Genesis by the collar of his coat and dragged him off the blond boy after which he held the materia close to the Third Class and activated it.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Zack grinned mischievously as he watched the chocobo making distressed noises while it fidgeted, unsure of what it should do.

 

Having taken into account the chocobo’s strong motherly feelings, Zack had grabbed an egg out from under a different chocobo – a normal one that at least had been more scared of Zack than Zack had to be of it - and placed the egg at the other end of the stable in the line of sight of the demonic chocobo.

 

As predicted, the demonic chocobo had immediately reacted to the egg, thinking it was one of her own eggs that somehow had rolled out of the nest and now needed to be returned to the warmth of it. However at the same time the chocobo also didn’t seem too keen on leaving the other eggs behind. It was clearly the case of a mother being subjected to the question whether to risk the live of all its children so it could save the one child or to sacrifice the one child in favour of the others.

 

To help the chocobo to make the decision that suited Zack the best – leave the nest so Zack could sneak in and grab Angeal’s egg - Zack had gone for an extra big egg so that hopefully the demonic chocobo would be persuaded to risk her other eggs as the one that had gotten away clearly held one of the larger and stronger children and thus had a better chance at survival.

 

Zack waited patiently, convinced that his plan was going to work and a few moments later he got rewarded as the chocobo stood up and took a step away from its nest.

 

Zack was inwardly cheering and congratulating himself – he could already so see Angeal’s eyes gleaming with admiration when Zack showed him the egg, the man proud that Zack had managed the impossible - when suddenly the chocobo stopped after having taken tree steps and turned its head back to its nest.

 

‘What the …?!’ Zack stared at the chocobo that was now coaking its head to the left and then to the right, an intense concentration in its eyes. ‘Is it counting the eggs?! Impossible!’

 

But whether it was impossible or not, for some reason the chocobo obviously came to the conclusion that the lost egg wasn’t hers and so she turned back around and planted herself back on her nest, a relieved ‘kweh’ sounding through the stable.

                                   --------------------------------------------

“Spoilsport,” muttered a dejected Genesis.

 

Sephiroth straightened himself back up and turned towards the red leather clad man that was still sitting down on the grass a few feet away from the Third Class Sephiroth had just used Esuna on. Sephiroth raised one eyebrow. “I don’t see why the boy had to be naked to be cured with Esuna.”

 

“As I said, spoilsport,” Genesis scrambled back to his feet, dusted himself off and then regarded the silver haired General, shaking his head in disappointment. “You really ought to get more out Sephiroth and live a bit. Maybe this challenge the director organised won’t be such a bad thing for you after all. At least now you’ll have to come out under us normal people and mingle. I’m sure it’ll be an eye opener for you.”

 

Sephiroth’s only response was a glare directed at Genesis after which he turned back to the Third Class who was still lying on the ground, looking to be totally out of it.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Cloud’s heart was racing. He’d never seen General Sephiroth this close by. The man’s skin was flawless, his eyes piercing, his nose pointy but not too big and his lips – his soft, pink pliable lips – had looked as they’d been demanding to be kissed, something he’d gladly would have done had he not been so sore thanks to the spider bites and the wrestling match he’d just endured with Lt Rhapsodos.

 

When the man had bent over him, Cloud at first had been sure that now he really had died and gone to heaven – the poison having done its work during the scuffle with Lt Rhapsodos and taken his innocent and far too young life. After all, in which other reality than in the heavenly light would a man like General Sephiroth deem him Cloud, a low rank Third Class with as good as no battle experience or sexual for that matter - but he so hoped to change that on both accounts – worthy of a kiss from the man’s million gil worth lips. But grand had been his disappointment when a green light had teased the air and Cloud’s eyes confused had stared further away from General Sephiroth’s oh so inviting lips and he’d seen a materia in the man’s hand working its magic.

 

For a moment Cloud had been debating whether to pout or not but he doubted his live long crush would appreciate someone he was saving, showing him a pout as if he was ungrateful that the man had taken out a few seconds in his oh so busy life to show mercy on some lower life form than himself that under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have to even bat his eyelashes at.   And so instead he had contented himself by just laying still there, admiring the view – and damn but why did have materia have to work so fast and deprive him that soon of his God’s face? And when General Sephiroth had turned away, he’d stayed down as he was feeling light headed again – making him panic for a few seconds that Esuna hadn’t gotten rid of all the poison in his system – and trying to calm down his racing heart before the silver haired leather clad man would hear and would learn about Cloud’s not so little but major crush. Not that it really mattered cause as soon as the General turned his eyes back upon him, Cloud felt his heart doing a flip flop after which it started racing again – definitely mocking him for all the hard work he had just done to still it. Cloud was even convinced that if he could see his heart that it would be casting a smirk at him and laughing in his face after which it would turn around to General Sephiroth with huge neon letters spelling out Cloud’s little problem to the silver haired man with as a result that either once again the man would head for the hills or would run Cloud down with his beloved - and seemingly only love in the General’s life - sword.

 

But then … then his heart stopped and shattered in a thousand pieces – the pieces too small to ever be able glued together again.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Zack rummaged through his pockets, pulling out various materia he’d borrowed - read stole - from the training room.

 

Angeal had always said that a good SOLDIER was always prepared no matter what the challenge he was facing and so before the Easter challenge had started, Zack had made a small detour to the training room and taken with him all the materia he already mastered well enough to be able to use outside the training room and without supervision.

 

At first Zack had been convinced it had been a waste of time but now he was grateful for having followed Angeal’s advice as it would lead to his date with his mentor. And thinking of that date, Zack’s heart made a small salto causing Zack nearly to lose his grip on the small balls of materia.

 

Quickly Zack composed himself again. It wouldn’t do any good if the materia rolled towards the demonic chocobo cause not only would it be lost to him then and unusable, but then he also wouldn’t have a chance of putting all the materia back in the training room before they were missed. No, he had to stay focused now or else he could not only forget his date but also Angeal’s approval and admiration. And a lecture and punishment instead of the promised date so wouldn’t be a good start either for a relationship outside the mentor/pupil one they had currently.

 

Zack pulled out a red ball and shook his head. Ifrit was out of the question. If he used that summon, not a single wooden plank of the stable would be left standing and he so didn’t look forward to having to explain to Angeal why there was only a smouldering pile of rubbish left where once had been the chocobo stables.

 

Zack put the summon materia back and grinned as the next one he pulled out was a winner. Even if Ifrit was out of the question, a simple fire magic wasn’t. And combined with the blizzard materia already in his other hand, this would so do the trick. He would cause a small fire near the chocobo - making the bird flee for its life - and then he would sneak in, grab Angeal’s egg after which he’d put the fire back out with a blizzard.

 

Zack aimed and a small patch of hay caught fire beside the demonic chocobo’s nest.

 

The chocobo’s first reaction was indeed to run for its life and Zack graciously stepped aside so the bird could pass him unhindered on its way to safety. But right before the bird passed Zack; it turned back around and looked torn at its nest while making an anguished sound.

 

Next thing Zack knew, the chocobo darted back to its nest – or more precisely to the fire right next to it – turned its back towards the fire and started to shuffle sand on the fire – a rather pointless task as more hay also got transferred on the fire like this, causing the fire only to grow. The chocobo also seemed to realise this and stopped, its head turning left and right and releasing a triumphantic ‘kweh’ as it had spotted something.

 

The chocobo darted to its bucket of drinking water and pushed it towards the fire with its head. With precision the chocobo placed the bucket right beside the fire and then kicked it. The bucket tipped over and water flowed out of it, accomplishing the bird’s goal as it extinguished the fire.

 

The demonic chocobo gave a satisfied ‘kweh’ and then returned to its nest, planting herself once again down on it and looking smug – or at least Zack saw it that way – at Zack.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

General Sephiroth was glaring at him! Cloud’s eyes filled with tears. His live long hero was mad at him! Disgusted with him! Hated him!

 

God, his life was over now. He’d slunk off, go to his room, pack his belongings and then disappear in the silence of the night – okay so technically it was day and the moonlight wouldn’t be present during his retreat but who the hell cared about such a minor detail when one just had his heart ripped out of the chest, sliced into a million pieces, thrown on the ground and then stamped upon it. Cloud didn’t. All that he cared about was the silver haired General’s handsome face morphed into a glare that was directed at him.

 

Why the hell had he ever listened to Zack? If he hadn’t entered that blasted shed, he would have stayed spider free and wouldn’t have forced his noble General to waste materia and time on him. Sure he probably wouldn’t have find the egg and scored a date with the God-like man – ha, as if he had the egg in his possession now; that shed had been such a waste of time – but at least he could have stayed on Shinra’s payroll and could have kept admiring – not to mention drooling over – General Sephiroth. And he could have kept dreaming, hoping that one day he’d be noticed by his long live crush after which the silver haired General would wonder how he ever managed to live without Cloud at his side and kick himself over and over again for all the time they had lost cause he had been too blind to see Cloud’s radiance.

 

But now that dream was crushed. Down the drain. Over. Dead. He’d have to go back home, marry some village girl – and damn it but he so was gay – and get children while doing a stupid and unfulfilling job like being a delivery man or something like that.

 

More tears gathered in Cloud’s eyes as he thought of his now sombre future.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Sephiroth stared dumbstruck at the Third Class at his feet who was bawling his eyes out – luckily he had the grace to do it silently less he’d give him a headache.

 

Shinra really did let anyone join their program these days. Puppies with short attention spans – but at least Angeal’s puppy showed potential - and guys with too many female hormones cursing through their bodies that transformed them in one go into emotional basket cases.   What was next? Females entering the program? He could already so picture it. Their new recruits being absent every month for a few days and damn right scary days before their absence.

 

Sephiroth shuddered at the mental image that formed in his head. Thank God he was gay.

 

His attention got back drawn to the present as the blond boy on the ground, struggled to get up. Even although he had been healed, the boy obviously was still undergoing the after effects of the bites – and the bruises Genesis had added to the boy’s delicate skin – and so with a mental sigh Sephiroth held his hand out towards the boy, offering some aid.

 

Grand was his surprise when the boy – instead of accepting the helping hand – started shaking while his eyes grew large.

 

Hadn’t he been able to get all the poison out of the boy’s system?

 

He bent forward to examine the blond better when at the same time the Third Class shot to his feet.

 

Their heads collided – and Sephiroth had to admit that even though the boy looked delicate, his head wasn’t – and they both fell to the ground on their butts – the blond offering a colourful choice of curses.

 

Sephiroth’s hand shot up to rub at his temple when a gasp behind him made his hand pause in mid air. He glanced over his shoulder and blanched.

                                    --------------------------------------------

 

Zack groaned frustrated as he glanced at his watch. There wasn’t much time left. If he wanted to get Angeal’s egg, he would have to do it now. It was time to bring out the big guns!

 

Zack levelled the demonic chocobo with a look - a determined fire shining within his eyes - that clearly spelled that this meant ‘war’.

 

The chocobo wasn’t impressed and just glared back, seemingly saying ‘Bring it on, backwater boy’.

 

Tension filled the air. Time stood still. It was going to be brutal. Bloody. Demonic. It was going to be man against man – or in this case man against chocobo - and Zack was determined to win and make Angeal proud of him. No chocobo – demonic or not – would stand in the way of his dream! Wearing a dog tag that spelled out to everyone that Angeal was his master and owner!

 

Zack’s hand went to his side and encountered empty air. He cursed, remembering he had forgotten his sword in his room.

 

His eyes roamed the expanse of the stable and landed upon the demolished pitch fork. He grabbed it, broke the ruined steel of it – the utensil was already damaged so what was some extra damage? - and held up the wooden stock he had acquired now.

 

The chocobo rose to its feet – but stayed hovering above its nest – and released a challenging ‘kweh’.

 

Zack’s mouth set in a grim line and he closed his eyes. He willed himself to calm down and focus just like Angeal had taught him, realizing that this probably would be the hardest battle as of yet. A Behemot was nothing in comparison to this demonic creature. Maybe the guys of the tech lab ought to come down here and study this demonic bird so they could create missions with the creature in it. Zack was sure such missions would prove to be a challenge for anyone who undertook them. Even the Firsts – except for Genesis who’d probably start a cult with Loveless-adoring chocobos.

 

Zack’s eyes snapped open and he flung himself forward, attacking the demonic chocobo heads on.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Sephiroth’s mouth opened – his mind toying with a few things to say – and then closed it again, thinking better of what he had wanted to voice out loud.

 

There – a few feet away – lay his egg. The blasted thing had been knocked out of his pocket when he had bumped heads with the Third Class and had fallen to the ground as a result of that.

 

Lazard took an unbelieving step towards Sephiroth’s egg. “I thought I had told you to hide the egg somewhere on the grounds,” he threw Sephiroth an exasperated look.

 

Sephiroth glared back. “I did. I am on the grounds, am I not?”

 

Lazard wasn’t in the very least intimidated by the glare. “But no one dares to approach you close enough so that they would have been able to find the egg!”

 

Sephiroth shot Lazard a look that clearly said ‘That’s the point’.

 

Lazard threw his hands in the air – mentally debating whether to pull out some hairs out of his head but thinking better of it as he so didn’t want to risk going bald at a young age – and then threw a suspicious glance at Genesis and Angeal.

 

“Don’t tell me you hid your egg under that demonic bird,” he accused Genesis first as he was pretty confident that if one the Firsts would have played the game fair, it would have to be Angeal.

 

Genesis pouted. “I wanted to, but Angeal beat me to it.”

 

Lazard’s eyes nearly popped out if his head as he heard this and he stared unbelieving at Angeal. No way had he just heard correctly. Angeal, First class Lt Hewley who was like a mother to new recruits – who had even given one of them a cute and adoring pet name – had stooped down to the same level as Sephiroth and Genesis and ruined the Easter game.

 

Why were they all so against him?!

 

He had just wanted to do something fun for Easter whilst raising his men’s morals and trying to bridge over the gap that existed between the Firsts and the rest of the men. Hell, it had gotten to the point where the First were looked upon as Gods and the men had started to believe that on days they were able to catch all three Firsts together, they would be extremely lucky – causing the men then to undertake missions in the mission room that were way above their own level and ended with the men being hospitalized for weeks as no cure spell was strong enough to get them back to their feet. Really, how that stupid rumour and believe had ever started was beyond him but he was determined to get rid of it before he had to spend funds on building an extra hospital ward. Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis were just like everyone else for crying out loud. They got sick, used the bathroom, told bad jokes, had bad hair days, a cranky attitude in the morning, … They were just normal fucking human beings for God’s sake!

 

Angeal shrugged his shoulders in response to Lazard’s look of utter disbelief. “I wasn’t going to make it too easy on them. This is an excellent opportunity to test their skills.”

 

“It was supposed to be a day of fun. Not some stunt for additional training. The men already get that enough during the week,” Lazard wailed.

 

“There’s no reason fun can’t go together with a nice work-out,” Angeal stood by his decision.

 

“Like hell it’s fun! No one can get past that demonic creature except for him!” Lazard pointed at Genesis at this stage.

 

“Angeal managed,” Genesis muttered off handily.

 

Lazard’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did you help him hide his egg?”

 

“No,” Genesis looked insulted. “I already said he beat me to the nest. When I got there, Angeal’s egg was already safe and sound underneath the chocobo.”

 

Lazard’s suspicious look shifted to Angeal. “Then how did you manage to pull this stunt off?”

 

Angeal tapped his forehead. “By using common sense.”

 

“Common sense?” Lazard repeated incredulously.

 

“The bird likes Loveless so I just sprouted out lines of the play while I hid the egg in its nest,” Angeal revealed.

 

“Wait, if it’s that easy to get past that chocobo, then why don’t the stable people use that trick too?” Lazard still wasn’t convinced that Angeal and Genesis weren’t in cahoots on this.

 

“They don’t know the play,” Genesis piped up. “It’s blasphemy. They should all be fired.”

 

Lazard sighed. “Figures. I am surrounded by incompetent people who like to make my life Hell.”

 

“Ah cheer up,” Genesis sauntered over to Lazard and gave the director an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “The day isn’t a complete waste of time.”

 

“How do you figure that?” Lazard shot back in a miserable voice. “Your egg seems to be MIA, Angeal’s egg will put half of my staff in the hospital and Sephiroth’s egg …” Lazard’s tirade drifted off as he saw Genesis pointing at something.

 

“Is right there and ready to be conquered and grant one boy a fabulous day,” Genesis voiced the thoughts that no doubt were now also floating around in Lazard’s head.

 

Sephiroth’s eyes grew large as he heard Genesis’ words. His eyes flew to his egg – his mind spelling out the possible upcoming disaster – and his jaw set in a firm and determined line. He scrambled to his feet and darted to his egg, but Genesis beat him to it and with a devilish smile –directed at Sephiroth – Genesis gave the egg a soft kick, making the egg roll over towards Cloud who in a daze automatically reached out and grabbed hold of the egg.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Zack sat on the floor – Indian style - a few feet away from the chocobo’s nest, glaring daggers at the bird.

 

‘Stupid bird! May you and your chicks burn in Hell!’

 

Zack still couldn’t believe he had lost a fight to a chocobo. But he had. His two empty hands and his cut up and bruised body were the sad testimony of it.

 

The chocobo had parried every attack of him and for each blow Zack had tried to deal, the chocobo had dealt two of its own – one of its attacks always hitting home.

 

Zack sighed. It was clear as day. The chocobo was way more accurate in its attacks and way faster than he was. He would have to admit defeat. He just hoped that he would be able to gain some measly consolation out of the fact that he could at least tell Angeal where the man’s egg was. Maybe his mentor would already be proud that Zack at least had managed to figure out where the egg was.

 

‘Yeah, fat chance,’ his mind helpfully provided. He was a failure. A disgrace. He should be kicked out of SOLDIER. Maybe Angeal would be so disappointed in him that he would cease to be Zack’s mentor, deciding that his time could be way better spend than trying to teach someone like Zack something when it clearly was a waste of time.

 

‘Aw man, I am so fucked!’ Zack whined mentally as he let himself fall flat on his back.

 

He stared up at the ceiling and reached out his right hand. He turned his hand around and studied it.

 

Had it just been a few hours ago when he had still believed that he could become a Hero? That his hands would become those of a Hero who would save people and bring peace and happiness?

 

Suddenly another hand grabbed his hand and fingers curled around his own.

 

Startled he shot up and looked in the smiling face of Aerith.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

New tears filled Cloud’s eyes. There was a God after all! He had General Sephiroth’s egg. He had won. He was going to go on a date with the silver haired God! …

 

Cloud’s eyes grew large.

 

Oh my God!

 

He was going to go on a date with the legendary General!

 

What should he say? What should he do? Where should he take the man? What should he wear? What if the man got bored during their date? What if General Sephiroth would want to cut their date sort? Or worse … what if the General actually enjoyed himself? Wanted a second date? Or asked whether he was allowed to kiss Cloud?

 

Cloud turned beat red as he imagined his long life crush accompanying him to the door of his shared quarters and then asking whether he could come in for a cup of coffee - which of course would be impossible as he shared his quarters with five other guys and he doubted they would leave the two of them alone – and then them saying goodbye, General Sephiroth telling him he had a great time and leaning in and …

 

Cloud’s eyes grew a size more and then he promptly fainted.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

“Aerith? What are you doing here?” Zack asked confused. Had he forgotten an appointment with her? Had he promised he’d stop by her place today and had she gotten worried when he hadn’t shown up?

 

Aerith let go of Zack’s hand and stepped back, giving Zack the space to get back to his feet. “I came to see you,” Aerith explained and then she looked curiously around. “What are you doing?”

 

Zack’s shoulders slumped, making Aerith tilting her head curiously to the side. “I’ve been trying to get my hands on Angeal’s egg. It’s under that chocobo.” Zack pointed towards the demonic chocobo.

 

“Angeal’s egg?” Aerith asked confused.

 

“Yeah. It’s for a challenge. The person who finds the egg and can get his hands on it, gets to go on a date with the person who the egg belongs to.”

 

“Oh,” Aerith clasped excited in her hands as she understood.

 

“Yeah well,” Zack scratched the back of his head embarrassed. “You don’t have to get so excited. It’s not like I can get to Angeal’s egg.”

 

“Why not? Didn’t you say it was right there,” Aerith looked uncomprehending to the demonic chocobo’s nest.

 

Zack nodded. “But I can’t get to it. The chocobo won’t leave its nest long enough for me to snatch it away.”

 

Aerith’s eyes swung back towards Zack. “Have you tried just asking the chocobo for the egg?”

 

“Asking?”

 

Aerith nodded enthusiastically. “Yes.”

 

Zack once again scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think … hey! What are you doing?!” he called out as Aerith moved towards the demonic chocobo. “Aerith! That’s dangerous!”

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

All three First and Lazard gazed confused down at the unconscious body of the Third Class.

 

Sephiroth was the first one to move.

 

There was still time. He could still get out from under the blasted date. All he needed to do was grab the egg and dispose of it. He would just have to snatch it away from the unconscious blond, make a run for it and hope for the best.

 

Sephiroth reached for the egg and curled his fingers around it, giving a gentle tug.

 

The egg didn’t budge.

 

Sephiroth applied a bit more force and tugged again.

 

The egg still didn’t budge.

 

Sephiroth gritted his teeth and pulled with all his might.

 

The egg remained in the blond’s hands. Although unconscious, the boy’s grip on the egg was unrelenting – holding the egg to him as if it were his most prized possession.

 

Sephiroth growled in frustration. If the fast approach was out of the question, then he would just pry the boy’s fingers of the egg – one by one.

 

Sephiroth reached for the first finger when he got a slap against the back of his head accompanied with a stern demand from Genesis.

 

“What are you trying to do? Cheating? The boy won fair and square.”

 

Immediately Sephiroth shot to his feet, a smouldering look of anger directed at Genesis. “Fair? That boy,” he pointed down at Cloud, “wouldn’t be in the possession of my egg if you had kept out of it!”

 

Genesis smiled mockingly and pushed forward – face only inches away from Sephiroth’s. “And what are you going to do about it? Run to mummy and cry about it?” he challenged. “Face it, Sephiroth, you are going on a date and that’s final. Better be grateful it’s with such a cute looking boy. You could have done worse.”

 

Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I don’t remember having asked for your opinion.”

 

“Don’t worry. It’s free of charge,” Genesis smiled, having way too much fun with the prediction Sephiroth had found himself in.

 

A cold, predicting-no-good smile appeared on Sephiroth’s face. “How grand of you, old friend. But I am afraid I can’t accept such generosity. Let me make it up to you,” and his hand shot out to his sword on his side only to have Lazard’s hand close over his and stopping him.

 

Sephiroth’s murdering glare directed itself towards Lazard, willing the director to let go of his hand, but Lazard stood firm. Like hell he was going to let two of his First class SOLDIERs have a go at each other in an uncontrolled environment. The damage they would cause would be enough to close Shinra down for an entire year. If they wanted to duke it out, they could do it in their own time and preferably in a controlled environment.

 

“Take it somewhere else, but only after you’ve dropped off the boy at our infirmary to get him checked out. All this fainting can’t be normal,” Lazard told Sephiroth in a stern voice.

 

Sephiroth bristled. “Why me? Let Genesis do it. He seems to have a soft spot for the kid.”

 

“I don’t know how or why but I’m pretty sure that it’s your fault he keeps fainting so you will take responsibility. Now move it, SOLDIER!”

 

Sephiroth looked as if he wanted to protest even more but one questioning – and challenging - raised eyebrow from Lazard had him turning around while huffing out his disagreement. He threw one last murdering glare – promising revenge - at Genesis – who merely grinned back and gave a small wave - and then stooped and picked up Cloud after which he started in the direction of their infirmary wing, Lazard’s final words on the matter ringing over the grass field.

 

“And the date stands, Sephiroth!”

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Zack stared at the egg in his hands. He still couldn’t believe it. God was making fun of him, it had to be.

 

Here he was, having gone through great lengths to get Angeal’s egg into his possession – hell he had even risked his life on more than one occasion – and all it had taken was one polite request from Aerith for the demonic chocobo to turn the egg over.

 

Zack nodded to himself. Yep, there was definitely something wrong with this picture. But who cared? He had Angeal’s egg! He had the blasted thing and he was going to go on a date with his mentor! Who cared about the details when such a brilliant and rosy-smelling future lay ahead of him? He certainly didn’t. He had enough to think about now; like where he was going to take Angeal on their date.

 

Should he take the older man with him to the snowboarding area so he could dazzle the man with his awesome snowboarding technique? Or maybe a romantic and private dinner would be better suited so they could talk. Or perhaps they could go swimming or even better to the beach and then he could offer to rub sun lotion on Angeal’s back and Angeal could return the favour.

 

Zack was brought out of his mussing as Sephiroth passed by with Cloud in his arms.

 

The black-haired teen rubbed in his eyes, pinched his arm and then stared after Sephiroth’s retreating back.

 

“Man, Cloud sure is moving fast,” Zack muttered after which a grin broke out on his face. He pumped a fist in the air and yelled after the disappearing pair: “You go, Cloud! But make sure you don’t wear out Sephiroth too much! He still needs to be able to teach a class tomorrow!”

 

At Zack’s word, Sephiroth’s step faltered after which the General’s speed picked up tremendously.

 

Zack shrugged and bounced happily towards Angeal.

 

“Angeal! Angeal! Look what I’ve got!” and he proudly held up the egg for all to see.

 

Angeal smiled back at his student. “Well done, puppy,” he ruffled Zack’s hair affectionately after which he politely greeted Aerith. “Aerith,” he said with a small bow of the head.

 

“Hello,” Aerith gave a small wave.

 

“What brings you here? Don’t tell me Zack forget again a previous made arrangement with you.”

 

Zack pouted. “I’m not that bad, thank you very much.”

 

Angeal laughed. “If you say so, puppy.”

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Lazard and Genesis watched the exchange between Angeal, Zack and Aerith for a few moments before Lazard threw a glance at his watch, noticing that the hour was almost up.

 

He walked to the stage and bent down to pull out the small whistle he had stashed in the small opening of the wooden standard of the mike so he could signal that the challenge was over. But instead of grabbing the whistle, his eyes grew large as his hand froze in mid-air.

 

Genesis in the mean time had sauntered up to Lazard. He casually draped an arm over Lazard’s shoulder and leaned forward a bit so he could look over Lazard’s shoulder at the item that had caught Lazard’s fascination.

 

Lazard’s eyes shifted from the object to Genesis’ face.

 

Genesis winked after which he reached forward and picked up his egg, dropping it in Lazard’s open hand. “Looks like you found it just in time, director,” he purred in Lazard’s ear making the director shiver. “Now where shall we have our date? Your place,” Genesis paused, letting his eyes rake up and down Lazard’s body, electing a new shiver from the man, “or mine?”

 

Lazard opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it again, thought better of it and closed it again – he was doing a damn good impression of being a fish on dry land.

 

Genesis laughed. “Tell you what,” he reached one finger out, hooked it under Lazard’s jaw and gave a gentle push to shut Lazard’s mouth again, “sleep on it. You can tell me in the morning. After all,” and Genesis’ finger trailed towards Lazard’s lips and brushed them lightly, “anticipation is half of the fun,” and with a wink he snatched the whistle, straightened up and blew on it, ending the challenge.

                                   --------------------------------------------

 

Hearing the whistle, Zack’s eyes got drawn to the small stage and more precisely to the red leather clad man blowing on the whistle.

 

“Did anyone find Genesis’ egg?” he turned questioning eyes on his mentor.

 

Angeal shrugged. “I’m sure he managed to let it fall in his attended victim’s lap. But tell me, puppy, how did you manage to get past the chocobo?”

 

Zack started to tell Angeal the entire story. He told his mentor about how he had been followed by a horde of fellow SOLDIERs, how he had ended up in the barn and had discovered there by accident Angeal’s egg, about the many challenges he had undergone to try and get to Angeal’s egg under the demonic chocobo – he wisely didn’t mention the ruined pitch fork in hopes of being able to get away with it without having to pay for it – and how finally Aerith had showed up and had helped him out.

 

“You should have seen it, Angeal!” Zack bounced up and down excited. “Aerith just walked up to the bird and said something in the lines off: “Hello, mother bird. You have an egg in your nest that belongs to a friend of mine. Would you please give it to him?” And then whoosh,” Zack made a gesture with his hands, portraying how quickly the chocobo had stood up, “the chocobo got up and she was allowed to grab your egg and the bird didn’t even attack! It just stood there, calmly, trusting her. It was awesome! And amazing!”

 

When Zack was done, Angeal regarded the boy thoughtfully. “So, let me get this straight, Aerith was the one who technically acquired the egg?”

 

Zack nodded. “Yep, and then she gave it to me so we can … hey! What are you doing?!” Zack protested as Angeal lifted the egg out of Zack’s hands.

 

“Sorry, pup, but that means you didn’t win the date and sparing match. Aerith did,” and Angeal let the egg drop in Aerith’s outstretched hand after which he offered Aerith his elbow.

 

Aerith gave a small laugh behind her hand after which she accepted the offered elbow and together with Angeal she started towards the main building.

 

“What! But that’s not fair! Angeal! Come on, man! No one could have gotten past that demonic bird! It was inhuman! Can’t we come to some sort of arrangement?! Angeal?! Angeal?!” Zack yelled running after them.

 

THE END

 


End file.
